Machine for applying edging to shoe soles



July 22, 1941.

F. G. DOUGLASS MACHINE FOR APPLYING ED'GING TO SHOE SOLES Filed Feb. 12, 1938 2 She ets-She t 1 INVENTOR W 4 BY g I f a 04$ fl/s ATTORNEYS y 1 F. G. DOUGLASS 2,249,810

. MACHINE FOR APPLYING EDGING T0 SHOE SOLES Filed Feb. 12, 1938 2 Shets-$heet 2 a H/S ATTORNEYS Patented July 22, 1941 MACHINE FOR APPLYING EDGING T H LES Frederick G. Douglass, Laurelton, N. Y., assignor,

by mesne assignments, to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Borough of Flemington, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application February 12, 1938, Serial No. 190,247

3 Claims. (Cl. 12-17) This invention relates to machines for applying edging to shoe soles.

In certain types of shoes, particularly womens open shank shoes, it is customary to finish the edges, of the inner sole by covering them with suitable decorative material, such, for example, as, material similar to the material with which a portion of the shoe upper is made or trimmed. This decorative material is applied as anarrow strip, or tape, to the edge of the inner sole, or to those portions of its edge which will be exposed in the completed shoe, and this is done before the sole is incorporated into the shoe.

It is desirable that the edges of the tape be coneealed in the finished shoe by the outer sole and by the sock lining, leaving exposed to view a neatly, rounded surface formed by the tape where it is folded around the outer edge of the inner sole. It is therefore necessary that the strip, or tape, of decorative material be applied longitudinally along the edge. of the sole and firmly secured to the edge with its side margins folded against and firmly secured to the upper and'lower faces of the sole.

It is particularly desirable, or necessary, that the margins of the tape be held so firmly in place and in contact with the upper and lower faces of the sole that they shall 'not become loosened either before or after the shoe is sold. If they should become loosened before sale,'the sock lining would also be loosenedan'd the neatness and perfection of appearance necessary for.

salability-would be lacking, whereas should looseness take place after the shoe is sold, it would be apt to result in: complaints from dissatisfied:

customers.

Although it has heretofore been proposed to apply binding tape to the free edge of a flexible sheet such as fabric, felt, or the like, by stitching the side margins of the folded tape to the upper and lower faces of the sheet, such a' means of holding the tape in place is not satisfactory for applying decorative tape to the edges of shoe soles", and it is used for this purpose only in making very cheap grades of shoes." One reason for this is that it isimpossible to produce a neat job. For neatness it is important that the tape fit snugly against the ed e of the sole, and it is substantially impossible to hold it in such position by means of stitching. The tape tends to bulge outward from the edge of the sole with the result that the appearance is unsatisfactory. A second reason is that in the better grades of shoes the insole is reinforced throughu t m; an h e P rtion u ua ly by me ns of a thick piece of grain leather. This makes the thickness of the shank and heel portions about double that of the toe portion, thus rendering it diflicult to stitch through the thick material. A still further reason is that the-stitching would tend to increase the thickness of the margins of the inner sole and would be apt to cause a ridge visible in the outer surface of the operator and the amount of-time used and care with which the work is performed.

The principal object of the present invention is toprovide a machine for placing and securing a tape in folded relation upon the edge of the shoe sole which is capable of securing the tape firmly in place and which will produce a uniform product, and which is easyto operate effectively and rapidly.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a machine for folding a tape about the edge of the shoe sole and securing the margin of the tape to the upper and lower faces of the sole in such away-that the margin of the sole.

will not be increased in thickness to a greater extent than by the thickness of the tape itself.

Another'object of the invention is to provide such amachine which is so arranged that the sole can be easily fed into it in spite of the fact that the edges of the sole are of continuously changing curvature.

Another object of the invention is to provide such 'a machine which is manipulated or operated in much the same manner as other machinery with which the usual shoe machine operatoris familiar, such, for example, as certain kinds of stitching or sewing machines.

The invention will be understood by considering. the accompanying drawings which illustrate by way of example what I consider at present to be the best embodiment of the invention. In these drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view of the machine partlyin vertical section and partly in side elevation;

iiig.v 2; is a view in front elevation of the upper portion of the machine looking from the right of Fig. 1; 1

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on plane 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the machine and also of an inner sole to which edging strips have been applied;

Fig. 5 is a side view of the upper part of the machine shown in Fig. 1 and looking toward the machine from the opposite side;

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section taken on plane 66 of Fig. 5 showing the construction of the tape folder;

Fig. 7 is a vertical section taken on plane 1-! of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 8 is a view of the tape-folder in perspective.

Referring now to these drawings and first to Fig. 4, there is here illustrated a shoe inner sole I which is preferably reinforced throughout its shank and heel portions by means of a shank piece I preferably of thick grain leather, and which may be secured in place by cementing to the sole I', or by means of rivets (not shown) in addition to the cement. The edging 2 has been applied at the toe and along one side of the shank, and a second strip of edging 3 is being applied to the opposite side of the shank. It will be understood that the edging is sometimes put on .in short sections as here shown, and in other cases it. maybe applied throughout the entire periphery of.the inner sole, depending upon the character. of the shoe into which the sole is to be incorporated.

The material of which the edging is made depends also upon the'character of the shoe, it being sometimes of fabric and at others of thin leather orfibrous composition and of any desirable color. Not infrequently the edging is made of patent leather and it will be assumed that the strip 3 is of such material, the finished side being at the left and the unfinished, or flesh, side at the right, asillustrated in Fig; 4. The edging 2 is rounded, or curved, at 4 where, it extends around the edge of the sole, while the margins 5- on both the upper and lower faces of the sole lie flat against these faces and are secured thereto in firmly adhering relation.

The tape 3 is provided on its unfinished side with a coating 6 of suitable adhesive which may be applied to the tape'in liquid form (by mechai nism not illustrated) just prior to'its entrance into the machine from the usual magazine roll (also not shown). Preferably, however, the coating 6 is a so-called permanently plastic adhesive which has been previously applied to the tape. The tape passes through the tape-former, or tape-folder l which folds the inner, or adhesivecoated, side into concave form about the edge of the shoe'sole l, and then the sole with the tape thus folded upon it is passed through an intermittent pressure applicator, indicated generally by numeral 8, and comprising a rapidly reciprocating head, or hammer, 9 and an inverted stationary anvil ill, by means of which the margins 5 of the folded tape are forced into adhering relation with the upper and lower faces of the sole without, however, marring, or otherwise defacing either these margins or any part of the edgin 2 which is visible in the finished shoe.

,The anvil l0 preferably has a flat, smooth surface and is formed on the underside of an overhanging goose neck frame member 1| shown in Fig. 1, which curves upwardly from the upright portion l2 of the machine frame. This upright portion is provided with a base I 3 'Whil! f st" ranged to be appropriately secured to a bench, or other support. The hammer 9 is reciprocated by means of an eccentric I4 mounted upon a cross shaft 15 and rotated in any suitable manner, as, for example, by means of power supplied to a pulley It. The strap of eccentric I4 is pivoted at I! to a vertically slidable plunger l8 which is removably carried in the upright portion l 2, as shown in Fig. 3, and which is provided at its upper end with a lateral extension l9.

In order to definitely limit the pressure applied by hammer 9 at each upward stroke of the eccentric M, the hammer is yieldably mounted upon lateral extension l9, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 5. This yieldable mounting comprises a stem 20 extending downwardly from the head 9 and surrounded by a helical spring 2|, the upper end of which bears against the head, and the lower end against the upper surface of projection l9. To retain the parts in place a pair of nuts 22, one locking the other, is threaded upon the lower end of stem 20 beneath lateral extension The head 9 is reciprocated rapidly of the order of about 600 to about 1,000 times a minute, so that the upward velocity of head 9 as it comes into engagement with the edging 2 is considerable. The presence of the yielding mounting on the head 9 limits the inertia effect of the ham mer blow to that produced bythe head 9 and its stem 20 and thereby prevents the sole and the edging from being forced together under too great a pressure, the pressure being suificient to bring the surfaces into permanently adhering relation, but insuiiicient to crush the materials or mar their surfaces.

This yieldable mounting of the head -9 is particularly important in view of the fact thatit is: desirable to roughen the operating surface of this head, as indicated in Figs. 1, 2, 5 and 6. Such surface may be made by a light and rather coarse knurling with the protuberances rounded rather than sharp. A roughened surface of this kindtends to concentrate the pressure opposite the protuberances sufficiently to bring the surfaces quickly into adhering relation so as to aid in feeding or drawing the tape through the tape folder, and at the same time avoids breaking or marring the surface of the tape with which it comes in contact.

The tape folder 1, which is of the strip-reversing type, comprises a base 23 having slots 24 at one end through which pass holding screws 25 by means of which the device is mounted n adjustable position upon the right-hand flat surface 26 (Fig. '7) of anvil [0. At the opposite end of base 23 there is a projecting member forming a core 21 which is surrounded by a shell 28,1eavins a curved slot 29 between them. The front end of the core 21 has a lateral groove or concave forming surface 30 which is at right angles to the curved slot 29and separated therefrom by a reversely curved rib 3 l This groove 30 is at a level between the hammer and anvil and folds the tape around the edge and margins of a sole.

The tape 3, in passing through the curved slot 29 is folded with its outer, or finished, surface in contact with the core 21 and the curved slot 29 is wide enough to avoid such contact with the outer surface of the tape as would dislodge adhesive therefrom.

In operating the machine, the operator grasps the lower edges of the heel portion and. the toe portion of the sole I, as shown in Fig. 4, with his two hands, and forces the opposite edge of the sole into the groove or forming surface 30, the outer end of the tape having first been folded by the fingers into the groove to start the operation. The adhesion between the edge of the sole and adhesive covered surface of the tape as the sole is placed into contact with the tape against the bottom of groove 39 is sufficient to pull the tape forward around the edges of the reversely curved rib 3| as the sole is moved to the left, in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 4, by the operator. The pressure applied by the operator to force the edge of the sole against the concave side of the folded tape lying against the forming surface, or groove, 39 forces the central portion of the tape snugly against the side edge of the sole and presses these two engaging surfaces to closely adhering relation; it also forces the side portions of the tape snugly around the upper and lower corners of the side edge of the sole and into folded relation therewith.

The rib 3| completely reverses the curvature of the tape, the outer, or adhesive-coated, side being curved in convex form as the tape passes along through the curved slot 29, and is folded into the desired concave form as the tape passes over the edge of the reversely curved rib 3|. The rib 3|, being extremely narrow, subjects the tape to an extremely sharp reverse bending action, thereby preparing the tape to retain the shape which is imparted toit by the bottom and sides of groove 30 and reducing the tendency which the tape is apt to have to spring away from the upper and lower faces of the sole after it is brought into contact therewith.

As the operator continues to feed the sole toward the left, as shown in Fig. 4, the folded tape is brought between the head 9 and anvil ID of the reciprocating pressure applicator which presses the margins of the folded tape into permanently adhering relation to the opposite sides of the sole. The feeding of the sole is continued until the desired length of edging has been applied. Then the tape is severed approximately at the point 32 by withdrawing the sole from the intermittent pressure applicator and. freeing the tape from groove 30 to enable it to be cut by means of a pair of shears or other appropriate cutting device.

Because of the intermittent application of pressure by the head 9 and anvil Hi, the sole with the tape adhering thereto can be easily fed at any appropriate speed. This feeding motion takes place during the intervals when the head 9 completely releases the surface of the edging strip 2 on its downward strokes, and during the portions of its upward strokes in which the parts are in engagement with the edging strip, the pressure is sufliciently great to render it impossible for the sole to be shifted relatively to the portion of the edging tape which has been applied. In this way the improved apparatus of the present invention enables the edg ng to be placed accurately in position upon the sole without fear of its shifting out of place.

The tape folder I is adjusted in position with respect to the intermittent pressure applicator 8 so that the bottom of groove 30 delivers the outer edge of the folded tape preferably at about the center of the pressure applicator. This enables the tape to be easily applied to portions of the sole having rapidly changing curvature, such, for example, as the toe, and stil1 have the folded tape fed between the head 9 and the anvil. ll) of the applicator.

Groove 30 folds the tape into concave form into which the edge of the sole is readily inserted by the operator. The operator feeds the edge of the sole against the folded tape at the bottom of groove 39, the operation being in many respects similar to the operation of feeding the edge of the sole to other common types of shoe machinery, such, for example, as edge trimmers or formers, stitching machines and the like. Because of this similarity of operation it is not difficult to train operators to use the new machine.

The improved machine of the present invention applies the edging neatly, uniformly and rapidlly, and the bringing of the margins of the tape into adhering relation with the opposite marginal faces of the sole by the limited pressure tapping or pounding action of the intermittent pressure applicator is especially effective.

It will be understood that various changes may be made in the details of the mechanism as disclosed herein, and also that the apparatus can be used for applying edging to relatively thick, stiff sheets of material other than shoe soles, it being intended that the term shoe sole shall include other articles of such nature as this term is used in the claims appended hereto indicating the scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. In an apparatus for securing edge binding to shoe soles, a stationary anvil positioned above the work, a hammer positioned to contact with the under side of the margin of the work beneath said anvil, mechanism for moving the hammer toward and away from the under side of the work in frequently repeated cycles, and a strip-reversing tape-folding guide positioned beside said hammer and anvil and arranged to deliver adhesive-coated tape in folded relation upon the marginal edge of a shoe sole just prior to the passage of the latter between the hammer and anvil.

2. In an apparatus for securing edge binding to shoe soles, a frame having an overhanging head providing an anvil positioned above the work, a power oscillated member, a hammer yieldably supported on said member and positioned beneath said anvil, a grooved guide for an adhesively coated binding strip secured to said frame near one side of said anvil and having its grooved portion at a level slightly below that of the anvil, said groove acting as an abutment against which the edge of the sole may press the binding strip to cause it to adhere to said edge and operating to fold the binding strip around the margins of the sole.

3. In an apparatus for securing edge binding to shoe soles, a frame having an overhanging portion terminating in an anvil coacting with the upper margin of a sole, a yieldable hammer supported beneath said anvil for rapid oscillation toward and away from the under margin of a shoe sole positioned between them, and a strip-reversing guide for an adhesively coated binding strip arranged upon said frame to bend said strip in a convex curve with its adhesive side outward and to guide it from the rear toward the point of operation, said guide being also provided with a concave portion which is disposed at a level between the anvil andthe hammer and which is arranged to apply the reversely curved strip to the edge and margins of an insole as the latter is passed through said guide toward the hammer and anvil.

FREDERICK G. DOUGLASS. 

